The Off-Site Bakery: Progress

Wait. Slow down. No one is pregnant yet. Well, actually lots of people are pregnant, but at the current time our embryos are still in the freezer.

Oh God. I just had a vision. The embryos are kind of like those pre-formed dinner rolls you can buy at Walmart. (Trust me, we did not pay discount prices for those little guys.) Right now they’re in stasis, but pop one of those buns into an oven, wait 40 weeks give or take, and BAM! Baby!

Our current progress is all in the preparatory steps toward the whole “BAM! Baby!” business. To those who are late to the party, gestational surrogacy takes more steps than the FitBit champion of the world. We’ve been working our way toward actually having a bun in the oven for the last 31 months. That’s a long time to be patient for a pregnancy to actually start.

We’ve made progress in scheduling the hugely important appointments. It might not seem like much, but we’ve been waiting to get these in the calendar for a long time. In order to get these appointments booked, prerequisites need to be completed, stuff needs to be approved, and doctors need to check little, important boxes; basically the whole universe needs to align.

One week from today, The Electrician and I have slot booked with the fertility counsellor. My understanding is that it’s not like a test we need to pass to get our parent license. It had better not be, but I’m already having weird dreams about it. Apparently, the fertility counsellor appointment is more like an Q & A to make sure we are all on the same page. The same doctor sees Auntie Stork right after us, and will help create a supportive environment for all the people involved.

The day after our counsellor visit, my mister and I have a telephone meeting with our lawyer. In Canada, both the intended parents (us) and the gestational carrier (Auntie Stork) need independent legal counsel. While we are sure everyone in our situation is on the up-and-up, we’re jumping through hoops to protect all of us under the law. Our lawyer comes very highly recommended, and she has navigated many complex fertility situations, so we’re feeling good about having her on the team. After the contract is drafted and signed, we are ready to move ahead.

The counsellor and the lawyer stuff are the last non-medical hoops before we can move the actual baby process forward. Hopefully, we will be able to start the cycle soon that could result in a very exciting pregnancy.